[Page 101]
VERSES on MRS. ROWE.
How from the summit of the grove she fell,
And left it unharmonious —
YOUNG.
1 SUCH were the notes our chaster SAPPHO sung,
2 And every muse dropt honey on her tongue.
3 Blest shade! how pure a breath of praise was thine,
4 Whose spotless life was faultless as thy line:
5 In whom each worth and every grace conspire,
6 The Christian's meekness and the Poet's fire.
7 Learn'd without pride, a woman without art;
8 The sweetest manners and the gentlest heart.
[Page 102]9 Smooth like her verse her passions learnt to move,
10 And her whole soul was harmony and love:
11 Virtue that breast without a conflict gain'd,
12 And easy like a native monarch reign'd.
13 On earth still favour'd as by heaven approv'd,
14 The world applauded, and ALEXIS lov'd.
15 With love, with health, with fame, and friendship blest,
16 And of a chearful heart the constant feast,
17 What more of bliss sincere could earth bestow?
18 What purer heaven could angels taste below?
19 But bliss from earth's vain scenes too quickly flies;
20 The golden chord is broke, ALEXIS dies.
21 Now in the leafy shade, and widow'd grove,
22 Sad PHILOMELA mourns her absent love.
23 Now deep retir'd in FROME's enchanting vale,
24 She pours her tuneful sorrows on the gale;
25 Without one fond reserve the world disclaims,
26 And gives up all her soul to heavenly flames.
[Page 103]27 Yet in no useless gloom she wore her days;
28 She lov'd the work, and only shun'd the praise.
29 Her pious hand the poor, the mourner blest;
30 Her image liv'd in every kindred breast.
31 THYNN, CARTERET, BLACKMORE, ORRERY approv'd,
32 And PRIOR prais'd, and noble HERTFORD lov'd;
33 Seraphic KENN, and tuneful WATTS were thine,
34 And virtue's noblest champions fill'd the line.
35 Blest in thy friendships! in thy death too blest!
36 Receiv'd without a pang to endless rest.
37 Heaven call'd the Saint matur'd by length of days,
38 And her pure spirit was exhal'd in praise.
39 Bright pattern of thy sex, be thou my muse;
40 Thy gentle sweetness thro' my soul diffuse:
41 Let me thy palm, tho' not thy laurel share,
42 And copy thee in charity and prayer.
43 Tho' for the bard my lines are yet too faint,
44 Yet in my life let me transcribe the saint.
About this text
Themes:
Genres:
heroic couplet
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Source edition
Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia), 1743-1825. Poems. London: printed for Joseph Johnson, 1773, pp. 101-103. vi,138p. ; 4⁰. (ESTC T236; OTA K019955.000) (Page images digitized by New York Public Library.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Anna Laetitia Barbauld (née Aikin)
- An ADDRESS to the DEITY. ()
- CHARACTERS. ()
- CORSICA. ()
- DELIA, AN ELEGY. ()
- The GROANS of the TANKARD. ()
- HYMN I. ()
- HYMN II. ()
- HYMN III. For EASTER-SUNDAY. ()
- HYMN IV. ()
- HYMN to CONTENT. ()
- HYMN V. ()
- The INVITATION: To MISS B—. ()
- The MOUSE's PETITION, Found in the TRAP where he had been confin'd all Night. ()
- ODE to SPRING. ()
- On a LADY's WRITING. ()
- ON THE Backwardness of the SPRING 1771. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF MRS. JENNINGS. ()
- THE ORIGIN OF SONG-WRITING. ()
- OVID to his WIFE: Imitated from different Parts of his TRISTIA. ()
- SONG II. ()
- SONG III. ()
- SONG IV. ()
- SONG V. ()
- SONG VI. ()
- [SONG] I. ()
- A Summer Evening's Meditation. ()
- To a LADY, With some painted FLOWERS. ()
- To MISS R—, On her Attendance on her Mother at BUXTON. ()
- To MRS. P—, With some Drawings of BIRDS and INSECTS. ()
- To WISDOM. ()
- VERSES written in an Alcove. ()